U.S. patent number 8,525,890 [Application Number 12/411,931] was granted by the patent office on 2013-09-03 for projected-image based photographing apparatus control system.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.. The grantee listed for this patent is Shoji Sakamoto. Invention is credited to Shoji Sakamoto.
United States Patent |
8,525,890 |
Sakamoto |
September 3, 2013 |
Projected-image based photographing apparatus control system
Abstract
Provided is a photographing apparatus that includes a
photographing section that photographs a subject, and a controller
that controls a photographing range of the photographing section
based on a range specification image that is projected onto the
subject.
Inventors: |
Sakamoto; Shoji (Kanagawa,
JP) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Sakamoto; Shoji |
Kanagawa |
N/A |
JP |
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Assignee: |
Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (Tokyo,
JP)
|
Family
ID: |
42006871 |
Appl.
No.: |
12/411,931 |
Filed: |
March 26, 2009 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20100066865 A1 |
Mar 18, 2010 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Sep 16, 2008 [JP] |
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2008-236617 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
348/211.99;
353/30; 353/42; 353/28; 348/136; 348/211.4; 348/240.2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N
5/232933 (20180801); H04N 5/23218 (20180801); H04N
5/2628 (20130101); H04N 5/23206 (20130101); H04N
5/2624 (20130101); H04N 5/232945 (20180801) |
Current International
Class: |
G03B
21/00 (20060101); G03B 21/26 (20060101); H04N
5/225 (20060101); G09G 5/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;353/40-42 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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|
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5-60047 |
|
Aug 1993 |
|
JP |
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08-125921 |
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May 1996 |
|
JP |
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2004-187140 |
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Jul 2004 |
|
JP |
|
2008-129120 |
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Jun 2008 |
|
JP |
|
Other References
Japanese Office Action issued in corresponding Japanese Application
No. 2008-236617, dated Sep. 11, 2012. cited by applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Villecco; John
Assistant Examiner: Tejano; Dwight C
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Sughrue Mion, PLLC
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A photographing apparatus comprising: a photographing section
that photographs a subject; a recognition section that recognizes a
range specification image projected onto the subject; and a
controller that controls a photographing section to change a
photographing magnification of the photographing section according
to the range specification image recognized by the recognition
section, controls a photographing direction of the photographing
section to make a position of a center of gravity of a
photographing range of the photographing section correspond to a
position of a center of gravity of the range specification image,
and controls the photographing section to photograph the subject at
the photographing magnification in the photographing direction,
wherein the controller functions as a reset section that resets the
photographing section to a predetermined condition when a
predetermined reset image is projected onto the photographing range
of the photographing section, wherein the predetermined reset image
comprises a first reset image and a second reset image, wherein the
predetermined condition comprises a first reset condition that
resets the photographing direction and a second reset condition
that resets the photographing magnification, and wherein the reset
section resets the photographing direction in response to detection
of the first reset image and resets the photographing magnification
in response to detection of the second reset image.
2. A photographing apparatus comprising: a photographing section
that photographs a subject; a recognition section that recognizes a
range specification image projected onto the subject; and a
controller that controls a photographing section to change a
photographing magnification of the photographing section according
to the range specification image recognized by the recognition
section, controls a photographing direction of the photographing
section to make a position of a center of gravity of a
photographing range of the photographing section correspond to a
position of a center of gravity of the range specification image,
and controls the photographing section to photograph the subject at
the photographing magnification in the photographing direction,
wherein the controller functions as a reset section that resets the
photographing section to a predetermined condition when a
predetermined reset image is projected onto the photographing range
of the photographing section, wherein the predetermined reset image
comprises a first reset image and a second reset image, wherein the
predetermined condition comprises a first reset condition that
resets the photographing section to a first state and a second
reset condition that resets the photographing section to a second
state different from the first state, and wherein the reset section
resets the photographing section to the first state in response to
detection of the first reset image and resets the photographing
section to the second state in response to detection of the second
reset image.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119
from Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-236617 filed Sep. 16,
2008.
BACKGROUND
1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a photographing apparatus and a
photographing system.
2. Related Art
It is known that there is a photographing apparatus (a video camera
for example) that can control an oscillating angle and a zoom
magnification by a remote operation of a user. It is also known
that there is a photographing apparatus that can adjust an
oscillating angle and a zoom magnification automatically based on a
desired photographing area that user specified with markers.
SUMMARY
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a
photographing apparatus including a photographing section that
photographs a subject and a controller that controls a
photographing range of the photographing section based on a range
specification image that is projected onto the subject.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in
detail based on the following figures, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a photographing apparatus in
accordance with a first example of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing procedures of a photographing
apparatus in accordance with a first example of the present
invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating a positional relation among
a photographing apparatus, a projection apparatus and a subject in
accordance with a first example of the present invention;
FIGS. 4A through 4C illustrate a photographing screen of a
photographing apparatus in accordance with a first example of the
present invention;
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing procedures of a photographing
apparatus in accordance with a transformation example of a first
example of the present invention;
FIGS. 6A through 6C illustrate photographing screens of a
photographing apparatus in accordance with a transformation example
of a first example of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing configurations of a photographing
system in accordance with a second example of the present
invention;
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing functional configurations of a
photographing system in accordance with a second example of the
present invention;
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing procedures of a photographing system
in accordance with a second example of the present invention;
and
FIGS. 10A through 10C illustrate display screens of a client-side
PC included in a photographing system in accordance with a second
example of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to the accompanying drawings, examples will be now
described.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a photographing apparatus 100. The
photographing apparatus 100 has an optical system 10, a sensor
section 12, a signal processor 14 and a memory 16, which work as a
photographing section. The photographing apparatus 100 has a
controller 20 to control the photographing section and an operation
section 22 to receive inputs from the user. The operation section
22 is composed of buttons or a touch panel for example.
The optical system 10 provides an image of a subject to the sensor
section 12, and is composed of a combination of a spherical lens
and an aspheric lens for example. The optical system 10 is
configured as a zoom lens that can change the focal length by for
example locating a number of lenses on the same optical axis and
making the distance between lenses changeable. According to this
configuration, the photographing apparatus 100 can change a
photographing magnification when it photographs the subject because
the controller 20 controls the optical system 10.
The sensor section 12 is composed of an imaging detector such as a
CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide
Semiconductor) for example. The light of the subject led by the
optical system 10 is converted into a signal charge by a sensor
element in the sensor section 12. And the signal charge is
converted into a signal voltage and sent to the signal processor
14. The sensor section 12 converts light signals into electrical
signals as described above.
The signal processor 14 is composed of signal processing circuits
that have several functions, and does both of analog processing and
digital processing. By the signal processor 14, the electrical
signals sent from the sensor section 12 are converted into a signal
system (JPEG and MPEG for example) suitable for each use such as
display and memory, and are then outputted. Data processed by the
signal processor 14 are stored in the memory 16. The memory 16 is
composed of a nonvolatile memory medium such as a hard disk drive
or a flash memory.
The controller 20 is composed of a CPU for example and works as a
control section that controls the photographing section and a whole
apparatus by executing programs stored in the memory 16. By having
an oscillating mechanism and a zoom mechanism, the photographing
apparatus 100 can change at least one of a photographing direction
and a photographing magnification. The controller 20 controls the
photographing direction and a photographing magnification of the
photographing section by controlling the oscillating mechanism and
the zoom mechanism.
And the controller 20 works as a recognition section that
recognizes a range specification image projected onto the subject
and a calculation section that calculates a control parameter by
using the range specification image as well. The range
specification image shows a photographing area that the user wants
to photograph, and is projected onto the subject by a projector,
which is installed separately from the photographing apparatus 100
as discussed in more detail below. The control parameter is used to
control at least one of a photographing direction and a
photographing magnification of the photographing apparatus 100.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing procedures of the photographing
apparatus 100. FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating a positional
relation among the photographing apparatus 100, a projection
apparatus 110 and a subject 120 in accordance with the first
example of the present invention. FIGS. 4A through 4C illustrate
images photographed by the photographing apparatus 100, and
correspond to step S10, step S18, and step S24 in FIG. 2,
respectively.
As shown in FIG. 3, when the photographing apparatus 100 starts,
the projection apparatus 110 projects a rectangular area 112 (a
range specification image) onto a subject 120. The rectangular area
112 specifies a part of the subject 120 photographed by the
photographing apparatus 100. A user arbitrarily changes the
specification range of the rectangular area 112 by operating the
projection apparatus 110, and can make the photographing apparatus
100 photograph the area that the user wants to photograph.
As shown in FIG. 4A, the controller 20 searches for the rectangular
area 112 from a photographing range 102 photographed by the
photographing apparatus 100 (step S10) Next, the controller 20
calculates the position of the center of gravity G1 of the
rectangular area (step S12), and calculates the difference between
the center position G2 of a photographic image and the position of
the center of gravity G1 of the rectangular area 112 (step
S14).
Then, the controller 20 calculates the amount of oscillation of the
photographing apparatus 100 (step S16). Subsequently, the
controller 20 controls the oscillating mechanism based on the
amount of oscillation calculated and makes the photographing
apparatus 100 carry out an oscillation (step S18). As a result, the
position of the center of gravity G1 of the rectangle area and the
position of the center of gravity G2 of the photographing area
accord. By the steps described above, the photographing direction
of the photographing apparatus 100 is decided.
The controller 20 selects a photographing direction between a
vertical direction and a horizontal direction of the rectangular
area 112 (step S20). As shown in FIG. 4C, the controller 20
calculates a photographing magnification so that the direction
selected (horizontal direction in this case) in step S20 of the
rectangular area 112 is adjusted to the area of the photographing
range 102 (step S22). And the controller 20 controls the zoom
mechanism and makes the photographing apparatus 100 carry out a
zoom (step S24). The photographing magnification of the
photographing apparatus 100 is decided by the steps described
above.
According to the photographing apparatus 100 of the first example,
the controller 20 controls the photographing range of the
photographing section based on the range specification image 112
projected onto the subject 120. This is expected to reduce the
complexity of operations and improve the operability because the
controller 20 controls the photographing section (the photographing
direction and the photographing magnification for example) by
simply projecting the range specification image 112 onto the
photographing area that the user wants to photograph. Especially,
this is expected to be able to set the oscillating angle and the
zoom magnification of the photographing apparatus 100 adequately
quickly when the user photographs a part of a certain subject up
close.
For another way to specify the photographing area, there is a way
to stick a physical marker on the subject as described above, but
the subject on which the marker can be stuck is limited. For
example, it is difficult to stick the marker on a very small size
object and an amorphous object such as liquid. Because the way to
specify the area described in the first example is the way to
project the range specification image onto the subject, it is
expected to be used to more subjects than the way of using a
physical marker is expected. And changing the position and the
range of the specification range is comparatively easy.
With the first example, the rectangular area 112 is described as an
example of the range specification image, but a form (a circle, an
oval, a polygon) other than the rectangle may be used as a range
specification image. And by locating a number of points, the area
surrounded by the points may be used as a photographing area, or a
predetermined range around a single point may be used as a
photographing area. In addition, it is preferable to use visible
light or shade by visible light as a range specification image. But
light having a wavelength other than that of visible light may be
used to form the range specification image if the photographing
apparatus 100 can recognize the light optically.
In the first example, the controller 20 calculates the mount of
oscillation and a zoom magnification based on the position of the
center of gravity and the length of the horizontal direction of the
range specification image. It should be noted that this is just an
example of the way to calculate the control parameter and it is
possible to employ another way to control the photographing area
based on the range specification image.
As shown in FIGS. 4A through 4C, in accordance with the first
example, the controller 20 controls the photographing apparatus 100
to make the photographing apparatus 100 photograph the rectangular
area 112 that the user specifies from the photographing range 102.
When the photographing area that the user wants to photograph is
out of the present photographing range 102, it is difficult to
execute this control. Especially, repetitive zooming narrows the
photographing area, and may increase the possibility that the area
the user wants to photograph next is out of the present
photographing area 102.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, it is preferable that the controller
20 can make the photographing direction and the photographing
magnification of the photographing apparatus 100 back to the
predetermined condition under given conditions. FIG. 5 is a
flowchart describing control procedures of the controller 20 to
control the photographing apparatus 100. FIGS. 6A through 6C
illustrate the image photographed by the photographing apparatus
100.
Referring to FIG. 6A, when the photographing apparatus 100 starts,
the photographing apparatus 100 is controlled to zoom the area
predetermined by the rectangular area 112. First the controller 20
searches for the present photographing range 102 (step S30), and
determines whether there is a reset image in the area (step S32).
The reset image is the committed symbol predetermined to reset the
photographing apparatus 100 to the predetermined condition.
Predetermined figure, symbol, line, character, and color may be
used as the committed symbol. An X symbol is used as the committed
symbol in following description.
As shown in FIG. 6B, when an X symbol 114 (a predetermined reset
image) is in the photographing area, the controller 20 resets the
photographing apparatus 100 to the predetermined condition (step
S34). It is preferable that the predetermined condition is the
condition that the photographing area contains the whole subject
120 for example as shown in FIG. 6C. The controller 20 controls an
oscillating angle and a zoom magnification to make the
photographing area contain the whole subject 120. The user can
arbitrarily set the control parameter such as the amount of
oscillation and the photographing magnification under the reset
condition as well as those above. The controller 20 may have a
number of conditions as the reset condition, and can control the
photographing apparatus 100 based on the difference of the reset
image projected.
As described above, the controller 20 works as a reset section that
resets the photographing area of a photographing section to the
predetermined condition when the predetermined reset image 114 is
projected onto a photographing area. With this, when the user wants
to specify the area which is out of the present photographing area,
the user can specify a photographing area that the user wants to
specify by using the range specification image 112 after the
controller 20 makes the photographing apparatus 100 back to the
reset condition (FIG. 6C) by projecting the reset image. By using
the range specification image 112 for both a zoom movement and a
reset movement of the photographing apparatus 100, it is expected
that for users a complexity of the control operation decreases and
operability improves more.
A second example of the present invention will be now described.
The second example is the example applying the present invention to
a photographing system having a remote indication mechanism. FIG. 7
is a block diagram of configurations of the photographing system in
accordance with the second example. Same reference numerals are
used for similar structural elements to those of the first
example.
A photographing system 200 in FIG. 7 has a personal computer (PC)
40 that works as a server and a PC 50 that works as a client
(external terminal), which are connected each other through a
network 60. A projector 42, a whole camera 44, and a zoom camera 46
are connected to the server-side PC 40.
The projector 42 works as a projection section that projects an
image onto the subject 120 located on a table 130 through a half
mirror 48 based on a control command from the PC 40. The image that
the projector 42 projects contains the range specification image as
described below.
The whole camera 44 is fixed on a pedestal such as a table, and
works as a first photographing section to photograph the subject
120. The whole camera 44 photographs the reflecting image of a
screen 132 that contains the subject 120 by the half mirror 48, and
outputs a photographic image to the PC 40. It is preferable that
the oscillating angle and the zoom magnification of the whole
camera 44 are set so that the whole camera 44 can photograph the
whole subject 120. In addition, the projector 42 and the whole
camera 44 are installed in the position of 90 degrees across the
half mirror each other, and an optical axis and an view angle of
both accord. It is preferable that the positional relation between
the whole camera 44 and the projector 42 is fixed during
photographing.
The zoom camera 46 works as the second photographing section to
photograph a part of the subject 120 photographed by the whole
camera 44. The zoom camera 46 does not need to be fixed like the
whole camera 44, and may have a movement mechanism to photograph
from any position. The zoom camera 46 has the mechanism that can
change at least one of the oscillating angle and the zoom
magnification by the control of the PC 40, and can change at least
one of the photographing direction and the photographing
magnification by that mechanism.
The PC 40 outputs the photographic image photographed by the whole
camera 44 and the zoom camera 46 to the client-side PC 50 through
the network 60. A display apparatus 52 is connected to the PC 50,
and has a display area 54 and an input area 56. A display area 54
displays the photographic image of the whole camera 44 and the zoom
camera 46 sent from the PC 40. As illustrated, a whole image A1
from the whole camera 44 is displayed at the center of the display
area 54, and a partial image A2 of the zoom camera 46 is displayed
in another window at the upper left of the display area 54.
The input area 56 is a user interface that receives commands from a
user, and contains various buttons (the user can select pen, text
and erase for example) and icons (the user can specify line type
and color for example). For example, when a pen button in the input
area 56 is held down, the user can draw graphics and write texts in
the display area 54 with input means such as a mouse discussed
below. When the graphics are drawn on the subject 120 in the
display area 54, information on the graphics such as coordinate
data is outputted to the PC 40 from the PC 50. The PC 40 decodes
the coordinate data of the graphics, converts them to the
projection image of the projector 42, and outputs it to the
projector 42. As described before, because the projector 42 and the
whole camera 44 are installed on the same optical axis across the
half mirror 48, the image of the projector 42 can be projected onto
the same position where the user recognizes by the whole image A1
in the display area 54.
The PC 50 outputs the control command to the PC 40, and can control
the movement of the projector 42, the whole camera 44 and the zoom
camera 46 (for example, the zoom magnification and brightness of
the whole camera 44 and brightness of the image of the projector
42). In addition, in this example, the photographing system 200 has
only the PC 50 as a client, but the photographing system 200 may
have multiple clients (PC).
In the photographing system 200 described above, the image
photographed by the whole camera 44 and the zoom camera 46 is
displayed on the display apparatus 52, and the image input through
the PC 50 is projected onto the subject 120 by the projector 42.
The graphics and texts that the user draws or writes with the PC 50
are projected onto the relational position of the subject 120 and
of the screen 132, and the user can recognize these texts and
graphics by the images that the whole camera 44 and the zoom camera
46 photograph. This enables the communication between the user of
the PC 40 and the user of the PC 50 with the subject 120 that is
real for example.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the functional configurations of
the PC 40 and the PC 50. The PC 40 has a controller 70, a
transceiver 72, a memory 74, and an interface (IF) 76. The
controller 70 (a control section, a recognition section, a
calculation section) controls the projector 42, the whole camera
44, the zoom camera 46 and the whole apparatus, recognizes the
range specification image described below, and calculates the
control parameter based on it. The controller 70 may be realized by
the execution of the programs stored in the memory 74 with CPU for
example. The transceiver 72 transmits and receives data with the PC
50 through the network 60 and may be realized by a network
interface for example. The memory 74 stores various data such as
photographic image data and control programs, and may be realized
by a ROM (READ ONLY MEMORY) or hard disk drive (HDD).
The interface 76 functions to connect the PC 40 with the projector
42, the whole camera 44 and the zoom camera 46, and may be realized
by a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface for example. Furthermore,
the PC 40 may have a display section 78 that displays a
photographic image and an operation section 79 including a mouse
and a keyboard.
The PC 50 has a controller 80, a transceiver 82, a memory 84, an
interface (IF) 86, a display section 88 and an operation section
89. The controller 80 controls the whole apparatus, and is realized
by the execution of the programs stored in the memory 84 with CPU
for example. The transceiver 82 transmits and receives data with
the PC 40 through the network 60, and is realized by a network
interface for example. The memory 84 stores various programs and
data, and may be realized by ROM or HDD for example. The interface
(IF) 86 is realized by a USB interface for example, and can be
connected with external devices such as a microphone and a
speaker.
The display section 88 is realized by a display installed in the PC
50 for example. The operation section 89 is realized by a mouse, a
keyboard, and a touch panel for example. The PC 50 can display
image data and input instructions, with the display section 88 and
the operation section 89 instead of the display apparatus 52 shown
in FIG. 7.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing procedures of a photographing
apparatus according to the second example. FIGS. 10A through 10C
illustrate a display screen of the display apparatus 52 connected
to the PC 50, and corresponds to step S40, S44 and S50 in FIG. 9.
In addition, in the display screen in FIGS. 10A through 10C, the
screen 132 is not shown.
First, the operation section 89 of the PC 50 receives the range
specification input by the user (step S40). As shown in FIG. 10A,
the user specifies a part that the user wants to zoom from the
whole image A1 displayed in the display area 54 of the display
apparatus 52 by enclosing the part in the rectangular area 112 with
an input tool such as a mouse or a touch pen. The graphics and the
predetermined text other than a rectangle may be used for
specifying the range. The controller 80 of the PC 50 sends the
image data, which specifies the area input by the operation section
89, to the server-side PC 40 through the transceiver 82 and the
network 60 (step S42). The controller 70 of the PC 40 decodes image
data received from the PC 50, and projects the range specification
image onto the subject 120 by the projector 42 (step S44). As shown
in FIG. 10B, the projected rectangular area 112 can be checked in
the partial image photographed by the zoom camera 46.
The controller 70 of the PC 40 adjusts the photographing direction
and the photographing magnification of the zoom camera 46. First
the controller searches for the range specification image in the
photographing area of the zoom camera 46 (step S46). Then, the
controller 70 calculates the control parameter that may include the
amount of oscillation and the photographing magnification of the
zoom camera 46 based on the range specification image searched
(step S48). The controller 70 carries out an oscillation and a zoom
of the zoom camera 46 based on the control parameter calculated
(step S50). Here, the detail procedures from step S46 to S50 are
the same as described in the flowchart of the first example (FIG.
2). As shown in FIG. 10C, the area specified with the rectangular
area 112 is finally photographed by the zoom camera 46, and its
image is displayed in the window of a partial image A2 of the
display apparatus 52.
According to the photographing system of the second example, the
zoom camera 46 is controlled based on the range specification image
projected onto the subject 120 by the projector 42. The way to
control the zoom camera may use the coordinate conversion
parameters between the whole camera and the zoom camera. More
specifically, it is to pre-calculate the correspondence relation
between each coordinate of the whole image A1 photographed by the
whole camera 44 and each coordinate of the partial image A2
photographed by the zoom camera 46. Because the range specification
input by the user is equal to each coordinate of the whole image
A1, it can be converted to each coordinate of the partial image A2
by using coordinate conversion parameters. The PC 40 can control
the zoom camera 46 based on the coordinate of the partial image A2
converted.
A preexisting calibration such as a calculation of the conversion
parameter is needed in the way to use the coordinate conversion
parameter described above. Because the positional relation between
the whole camera 44 and the zoom camera 46 is fixed during
photographing, it is difficult to move the zoom camera 46 as
needed. In contrast, in accordance with the way described in the
second example, because the zoom camera 46 is controlled based on
the range specification image projected onto the subject 120 by the
projector 42, the preexisting calibration is not needed and the
workload is reduced. This is expected to enable the wide area
photographing by moving the zoom camera freely, because it is
possible to keep photographing as long as the zoom camera 46 can
recognize the range specification image 112 even though the
positional relation between the whole camera 44 and the zoom camera
46 is changed.
The user can adjust the photographing range of the zoom camera 46
properly by only inputting the range specification image into the
PC 50. Because the user only needs to draw the predetermined
graphics or write the predetermined text on the screen of the
display apparatus with the mouse or the touch pen, the range
specification image can be input easily and at short times. The
user can become proficient in the operation easily because visceral
input is possible. As described above, according to the
photographing system of the second example, it is expected that the
complexity of the control operation of the zoom camera is reduced
and the operability is drastically improved. Furthermore, it is
expected that the user can specify the photographing range
accurately by locating both the projector 42 as a projection
section and the whole camera 44 as a first photographing section on
the same optical axis, compared to by locating both on the
different optical axis.
According to the second example, the projector 42 is used as a
projection section to project the range specification image. The
projector 42 can project various images other than the range
specification image onto the subject 120, and is expected to be
used as communication means between users. As described above, the
whole system is expected to become more efficient because the
projector 42 plays two rolls that are the specification section to
specify the photographing area and the communication means.
In the second example, as described in FIGS. 5 through 6C of the
first example, it is possible to add the control mechanism that
resets the photographing range of the zoom camera to the
predetermined condition based on the predetermined reset image.
When the user inputs the reset image such as an X symbol with the
operation section 89 of the client-side PC 50, the X symbol is
projected onto the subject by the projector 42 connected to the
server-side PC. When the projected X symbol enters the
photographing area of the whole camera 44 and the zoom camera 46,
the controller 70 of the PC 40 resets the photographing area of the
zoom camera 46. As described, the controller 70 can be the
configuration that works as a reset section. According to the
second example, it is expected that the reset image input by the
user is always recognized by the whole camera, because the
photographing area of the projector 42 and the photographing area
of the whole camera 44 accord.
The foregoing description of the examples has been provided for the
purposes of illustration and description, and it is not intended to
limit the scope of the invention. It should be understood that the
invention may be implemented by other methods within the scope of
the invention that satisfies requirements of a configuration of the
present invention.
* * * * *